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Cinematic Travel: Tour Of Granada, Andalusia, Spain
This sprawling hilltop fortress complex encompasses royal palaces, serene patios, and reflecting pools from the Nasrid dynasty, as well as the fountains and orchards of the Generalife gardens.
Exhibits: ‘Medieval Money, Merchants, And Morality’ At The Morgan Library NYC
“Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality” is open to the public November 10, 2023 through March 10, 2024.
Trade was conducted on an unprecedented scale, banks were established, and coinage proliferated like never before. The widespread use of money in everyday life transformed every aspect of European society, including its values and culture. Bringing together some of the most acclaimed manuscripts in the Morgan’s collection and other exceptional objects including a renaissance purse, a brass alms box, and a hoard of coins, this exhibition will explore the fate of the avaricious, attitudes towards the poor, contentious lending practices, and money management.
The famous Hours of Catherine of Cleves, the Hours of Henry VIII, and the Prayer Book of Queen Claude de France will be presented from a decidedly new angle, combining economic and art history to consider the early history of capitalism and the crisis in values that it sparked. These will feature alongside lesser known treasures, including an Italian account book in its original binding and a stunning leaf from a register of creditors made in Bologna, Italy, in 1394–95. As people today reflect on fluctuating markets, disparities in wealth, personal values, and morality, the themes addressed in this exhibition are as relevant as ever.
Current Affairs: Prospect Magazine – January 2024
America’s undoing
Triumphant at the end of the Cold War, the United States pledged to lead humanity in a new world order. Two conflicts—in Gaza and in Ukraine—have exposed that it has never been weaker
By Samuel Moyn
The date of 7th October 2023 will go down in history as a turning point for the global role of the United States. The country’s promise both to defend and model democracy on the world stage has taken a huge hit, from which it is doubtful that it can recover. When the Ukraine War began in 2022, and the US responded with enormous military aid, the credibility of that promise had been briefly revived after the nightmare of Donald Trump’s presidency. Now it is smashed once again, joining the rubble of Gaza’s streets.
The World’s Top Thinkers 2024: ideas for a world on the brink
As a planet and a civilisation we are approaching tipping points—some frightening, others freeing—that will transform life as we know it. Here, we present our annual list of intellectuals—from priests and strategists to neuroscientists and historians—who will help us navigate the world in the year ahead
News: Israel-Gaza War Cease-Fire Calls Mount, Egypt Election Results
The Globalist Podcast (December 18, 2023) – Yossi Mekelberg discusses the weekend developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Plus: the latest on Egypt’s presidential election results, the Wagner group’s gold trade operations in Africa, a flip through the papers with Vincent McAviney and theatre news with Matt Wolf, a critic at ‘The New York Times’.
Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec 25, 2023
Can Crosswords Be More Inclusive?
The puzzles spread from the United States across the globe, but the American crossword today doesn’t always reflect the linguistic changes that immigration brings.
By Natan Last
Root around in the alphanumeric soup of the U.S. visa system for long enough and you’ll discover the EB-1A, sometimes known as the Einstein visa. Among the hardest permanent-resident visas to obtain, it is reserved for noncitizens with“extraordinary ability.” John Lennon got a forerunner of it, in 1976, after a deportation scare that could have sent him back to Britain. (His case, which spotlighted prosecutorial discretion in immigration law, forms the legal basis for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or daca.) Modern-day recipients include the tennis star Monica Seles and—in a tasteless bit of irony—the Slovenian model Melania Knauss, in 2001, four years before she became Melania Trump.
The World’s Fastest Road Cars—and the People Who Drive Them
“Hypercars” can approach or even exceed 300 m.p.h. Often costing millions of dollars, they’re ostentatious trophies—and sublime engines of innovation.
By Ed Caesar
A Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, near the company’s factory, in Molsheim, France. The car, which has lusciously curved side panels, has been produced in a limited run of five hundred. Although its engine is as big as a Shetland pony, the interior is eerily quiet.
Return to New York City
Revisiting old haunts leads to revelations about “real life.”
By Julia Wertz
The New York Times — Monday, December 18, 2023
Israel’s Allies Urge Restraint as Netanyahu Vows ‘Fight to the End’
The U.S. defense secretary was headed to the Middle East as two top European officials called for a scaled-back war against Hamas.
Why Democracy Hasn’t Settled the Abortion Question
Post-Roe voting might bring America to a new consensus — but only if the voters keep getting their say.
Campus Crackdowns Have Chilling Effect on Pro-Palestinian Speech
Universities are under tremendous pressure to stamp out antisemitism, but some say that is causing fear and curbing free expression.
More Than 100 Members of This Gaza Clan Have Been Killed in War
Family trees have been dismembered, and whole branches obliterated, since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7.
Travel: A Christmas Tour Of Wrocław In Poland
Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:43 Wrocław’s Gnomes 02:32 St. Mary Magdalene Church 04:17 Hala Targowa 06:00 Traditional Food at Wrocławska 10:12 Ostrów Tumski 11:38 Christmas Market, Old Town 13:00 Neon Side Gallery
Wroclaw’s famous gnomes also make an appearance! She shows us typical regional dishes and some hidden gems, including a visit to the unmissable, magical Christmas market in the Old Town! What’s your favorite of Eva’s tips for Wrocław?
Essays & Reviews: The Point Magazine – Winter 2024
Entering History
Leave it to Zadie Smith to include a political Rorschach test in her latest novel. In one of The Fraud’s pivotal encounters, set in 1875, […]
Within the Pretense of No Pretense
Technology was the wonder of our age. It seemed to promise us power, and we took this power for our own
Reviews: Best Books On Foreign Affairs For 2023
Against the World: Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics Between the World War
by Tara Zahra
In a timely and thought-provoking book, Zahra delves into the tumultuous years between World War I and World War II to argue that it was resistance to globalism and globalization that ended up weakening Europe’s then-fragile democracies, eventually contributing to the continent’s slide into dictatorship. READ THE REVIEW
Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
by Gary Bass
Bass’s magnificent book, an account of the post–World War II Tokyo war-crimes trial, encourages a deeper understanding of the Asian experience of war and occupation. His work also sheds light on an enduring debate about liberalism and international politics, showing how the trial played formative roles both in postwar Asian politics and in the making of the postwar global human rights regime. READ THE REVIEW
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
by Martin Wolf
In a sophisticated and expansive account, Wolf, a veteran economics commentator, suggests that the root cause of today’s political and economic malaise lies in the breakdown of the relationship between capitalism and liberal democracy—and the failure of institutions to counter poverty and marginalization. READ THE REVIEW
Human Rights for Pragmatists: Social Power in Modern Times
by Jack Snyder
In this masterful work, Snyder offers a bold explanation for why, how, and when societies make progress in expanding political rights and freedoms, arguing that breakthroughs occur when human rights serve the interests of a country’s dominant political coalition .READ THE REVIEW
Geopolitics and Democracy: The Western Liberal Order From Foundation to Fracture
by Peter Trubowitz and Brian Burgoon
Trubowitz and Burgoon argue in this groundbreaking study that the current backlash against the Western-led liberal international order can be traced to the 1990s, when the United States and European governments encouraged globalization at the expense of social and economic protections at home. READ THE REVIEW
The Project-State and Its Rivals: A New History of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
by Charles S. Maier
Moving beyond the standard account of the twentieth century as an epic struggle between democracy and autocracy, Maier examines how a wide range of actors tried to harness industrial modernity in the pursuit of power and material interests, weaving an alternative narrative about the explosive interplay of economic privilege and political grievance. READ THE REVIEW
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